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RE: Removing Cooked on Varnish from an engine

On low.. yes. I bought a 1 1/2 qt crockpot from a closeout place here. make sure the parts are covered. You may want to use a strainer basket of some type or make one. The stuff gets ALOThotter than boiling water so watch out... not 50/50.This is a projectto startin the evening and leave running all night.After a day or so you have new parts.if anyone is worried about fumes then don't dothis in yourkitchenor in any other family living space.

RE: Removing Cooked on Varnish from an engine

The trick is not to let the crockpot heat up the antifreeze too much. I make sure it is set on the lowest temperature setting, which gets it fairly hot, but no boiling. I haven't had any graying of any of my engines. I have cleaned 9-10 engines this way so far without graying.

RE: Removing Cooked on Varnish from an engine

My point is/was that automobiles are the worst thing on the planet.. catalytic converter has platinum in it, yes it removes undesired gasses from the exhaust while it increases CO2, CO and other things in the atmosphere.

You have another similar argument in another unrelated thread... I find it interesting that you are fighting the same argument in 2 concurrent threads. Are you a healthcare worker?

RE: Removing Cooked on Varnish from an engine

I happened to have some Mean Green degreaser under my kitchen sink and tried that one evening. It worked very good. I sprayed it on and waited about 5 minutes or so and most of the crap wiped off on a paper towl or rag. A few stubborn spots got retreated and I used a stiff old toothbrush to take the rest off. I used the same brush between the fins. Its cheap from Family Dollar and maybe Dollar General has it too. I heard that Dawn Power Degreaser works great too but don't leave on too long. I think either works unless you want to invest in sonic cleaners and such. I did the antifreeze/crockpot trick and it does turn the color depending on the metallurgy. I forgot what exactly it reacts with in certain metallurgy but some engine makers or years have it and some don't. I did it with an old OS 40 once and it changed the color to dull gray. Its still ran ok, but took away the luster. Also, don't do the antifreeze thing indoors because warm antifreeze gives off toxic fumes (so I was told). It doesn't smell good anyway.

RE: Removing Cooked on Varnish from an engine

ORIGINAL: poorbs

I have a very nice engine that has some varnish cooked onto the head, and wonder what the best way is to remove it without damaging the fins. A very long time ago, I remember helping a friend clean up one of his engines, and the stuff we used was really foul smelling. Any suggestions? Thanks

Lye or anything (caustic) with it as a part of the mix will cause alum. to turn grey if exposed long enough.

Once cleaned or better yet, I do all my new engines with this ** and they remain most like new.

Place the engine and muffler in a baggie and spray enough ** into the baggie to create a thin fog.
Then seal the baggie and let set for a half hour or so. Repeat one more time and reseal untill use.
I repeat treatment as needed, when needed. I go spring and fall !

both are 11 oz. and a
General purpose aerosol lubricant.
Stops squeaks, rust and corrosion.
Protects aluminum and chrome.
Contains no chlorinated solvents.

Once pretreated you will find that the castor crud is much more easily and faster removed with Hot Water and Dawn PC (I use Dawn Dish Soap). Do Not breathe any of these fumes.......[]
Harder Spot cleanup can be done with acetone or MEK....when using this pretreatment.

Do Not fail to wash hands before touching face or eating after using any silicone product.

RE: Removing Cooked on Varnish from an engine

Most problems with antifreeze seem to come from it being too hot. The lowest setting is the only one to use. The longest I've soaked parts is 8 hours. I get too impatient, so I'm pulling stuff up and checking each piece in the crock pot after a few hours. Does anyone else do this too?

Always do this outside. Keep it animal proof as they love the taste of antifreeze. You won't fall over dead if you catch a few fumes.

Copper cream does work well on engines.

The ultimate responsibility of pilots is to fulfill the dreams of the countless millions who can only stare skyward...and wish.

RE: Removing Cooked on Varnish from an engine

You definitely want to do it outdoors or in a well ventilated area. All crockpots are not created equally. The problem is that some of the one's I've tried for cooking in the kitchen don't work right on the low setting and actually boil. I think it's those crock pots that will tend to gray an engine.

RE: Removing Cooked on Varnish from an engine

I used Berryman Chem Dip from Autozone on 2 engines recently and its very good on these parts. Yes if left too long in one session it will turn parts gray but you can bead blast them or use soda blast etc if that happens to brighten them back up. it takes very little time and the parts come out bright again. I did a Saito FG36 and an OS FS120 with this stuff.

The ultrasonic bath is also very good and you can clean your jewelry in it as well, earn good wife points there (just no stones!!!). The ultrasound bath is heated and there are different solvents that clean effectively.

RE: Removing Cooked on Varnish from an engine

I have used the berryman's carb and fuel injector cleaner in the red/white can. i buy 2 cans and pour them both into a resealable metal can, open the back plate and soak away all the gummy castor deposits, takes off the burned on stuff also. use small brass bristle brush for really stubborn stuff. have tried the chem dip by berryman but it does leave the motor a darker shade

RE: Removing Cooked on Varnish from an engine

ORIGINAL: blw

I once needed to wash my hands after doing something on my truck. Couldn't think of anything good, so I used that gritty, powdered dishwasher soap. My hands were so dried out that I had to use hand lotion every half hour for weeks.

I too have used the powdered dishwasher soap to clean oil and grime from my hands, but afterwords used some regular hand soap to clean any of the dish soap off of my hands, use something with moisturizers.. No porblems for me!!

RE: Removing Cooked on Varnish from an engine

Catalytic converters don't remove anything, they convert like the name states, co2 is even in a persons exhale for an example, still like to figure how to clean the varnishes off since i tried plenty times, just wait to get a good hint here

RE: Removing Cooked on Varnish from an engine

ORIGINAL: poorbs

I have a very nice engine that has some varnish cooked onto the head, and wonder what the best way is to remove it without damaging the fins. A very long time ago, I remember helping a friend clean up one of his engines, and the stuff we used was really foul smelling. Any suggestions? Thanks

Cleaners vary in what they are designed for. Depending on what I am cleaning I use automotive carb cleaner, oven cleaner (strong and will clean about anything but use caution), and various other cleaners. Some use anti-freeze by heating the mixtures. If you are in a hurry anti-freeze takes too long and other cleaners will work much quicker - especially automotive carb cleaner.

If there are really thick baked on crud you may want to clean with sand or glass beads. This will affect other surfaces so care has to be taken there. Oven cleaner will clean just about anything, but will also clean your lungs out! We use to clean restaurant grills with a high strength stove/oven cleaner and it was amazing! You could spray it on and within 30 minutes wash it off and the grills shined like you had just purchased them.

Also price is a factor. How much does one want to spend to clean the engine? Steam cleaning is another effective cleaning solution. If you have tons of cash then you could by a hot air boiling tank and clean most anything you like. We used to clean huge engine blocks with our boiling tank. I don't recall the name of the chemical that was in the tank. Something along the lines of varsal or something. You just throw your engine block in there and let it boil overnight. Come in the next day and wash the block, clean with compressed air and it looked like it came out of the factory line

Most of the time you make up the difference of cheap chemicals in labor trying to take tooth brushes and such and whacking away at scrubbing. If you have the time that is OK too, but just not very effecient.

RE: Removing Cooked on Varnish from an engine

For a very nice and quick clean up on mufflers simply use a wire wheel on your bench grinder. It doesn't scratch the aluminum, just clean it up nicely IF you use a soft wire wheel. They are right beside the hard wire wheel in the hardware stores..... soft or hard, your choice, same price. They can then be polished if desired.